Fonda Comida Mexicana, Brooklyn NYC

NY York Foodie, Sasha Grand in front of Fonda Restaurant

I started the morning with an email from a friend with this LINK about food in Mexico City. I see that this wonderful restaurant I JUST ate at in Brooklyn, is featured.

The restaurant is located in Park Slope. I LUFF Park Slope. My best friend from college has been living there for the past 15 years and for whatever reason, they have GREAT Mexican food. People always joke about how New York City is really lagging in the taco department. I am here to tell you they are definitely improving!

A 12 year old foodie named Sasha told me that Fonda was 'beyond awesome.' He started reciting his favorites on the menu so fast I was like, "Wait... wait... Slow down." Better yet, let's just go there. So off I went with my soon to be teenage escort.

He started with a Guava soda. I had a Guava Margarita. Fantastic! We ordered the "Taquitos" appetizer of pastor with pina. I was a little confused by the moniker as to me a taquito is a rolled, deep fried taco. But here it actually means 'little taco.'

They were delicious. They come in threes. Somehow we managed to save one for his Dad.

Pastor with Pineapple 3 Taco Appetizer

Carne Asada w/ green beans + a sweet corn mushroom sauce

The grilled steak, carne asada offering is one of Sasha's favorites. I can see why. It was RIDICULOUS. Tender, juicy, flavorful, with green beans and mushrooms on top. Totally ADDICTIVE. Give me MORE. Send it Overnight Express! Andale!

We also got an order of the Enchilada Suizas. A classic I have been eating at La Serenata de Garabaldi for over 20 years. How was it? Delicious.

Chips and Guacamole? Delicious. The corn tortillas? Delicious. The service? Perfect. The decor? Very charming. The rice and beans? YUM.

The have an incredible cook book called Truly Mexican and a 2nd restaurant in Manhattan.

Definitely going back on my next visit.

The moral of the story? Listen to 12 year old foodies! Especially ones that are brave enough to order chicken feet at Chinese restaurants.

:)

www.fondarestaurant.com
434 7th Avenue btw 14th & 15th
Brooklyn, NY 11215

Brooklyn Tacos and Tacombi!

I am here in the Big Apple which I may have to start calling the big taco due to the fact that taco trucks and authentic Mexican eateries are popping up all over the place!

I had heard that Brooklyn was a good spot for some authenticity. I cross referenced blogs, Yelp and my own Taco Radar and hopped on the L train from midtown Manhattan to explore Williamsburg.

I shot a lot of video footage which was hard to edit. See the Brooklyn Taco Crawl video at the end of the post.

Here is a recap of where I stopped.

SANTOS ANNE

Churros with Nutella and Orange Crema at  Santos Anne

The lovliest people. I like their creation myth of a French woman and a Mexican man gettin' down and coming up with stuff like Brie & Lardon tacos and an out of this world Merguez Lamb Sausage taco. They have a beautiful and peaceful patio, a full bar of magical margaritas and Bocce Ball!!!!

EL DIABLO TACO TRUCK

Delicious authentic tacos and cheeky taqueros!

Just down the street on Union, the devil lies hidden in a courtyard behind the Union Pool bar. These guys win the Taco Truck Art award and their Chorizo taco was as good as anything I've had in LA. They are boastful, cheeky and authentic. There patio is also awesome and you can never lose with a combo of good booze and tacos.

MESA COYOACAN

Grilled Tilapia tacos with cabbage etc.

I really wanted to like this place. I love Coyocan, the small town in Mexico City where Frida Khalo is from and actual Coyotes abounded at one time. They are definitely trendy. They have a Mixologist doing his muddle thing, but they were very crabby about me taking any photos and their fish taco had a soggy tortilla. It was well seasoned and perfectly grilled Tilapia, with what tasted like sauerkraut on it, but the floppy corn tortillas were a no-go and so was their attitude!

VILLA PANCHO

Wall art at Villa Pancho

I left via the G train and attempted to head to Park Slope (home of Fonda) but Saturday was Train Detour Day for both the F and the G and I was unceremoniously dumped of on Bedford having no idea where I was and no patience for the various special shuttles and buses while suffocating on the hot subway platform.

The first two taxis I hailed refused to take me to Park Slope (about a $12 ride away I later learned) and so I was about to start whining LA Style on an unfamiliar NYC street corner when I noticed a taco place. SAVED. A taco, as you well know, fixes EVERYTHING.

This place has only been open about 5 months but already has big fans for their burritos and other comforting home cooking. I had a Barbacoa taco that was freshy fresh. I loved their decor and the owner was very friendly. He says the name came from a mistake that the guy making his sign made. It was supposed to be Pancho Villa! Def. worth a visit.

TACOMBI

People gettin' down with their tacos.

I've been following these taco innovators and their Nolita shennanigans for over a year now, but I finally got to try it.

After a day of taco chasing and a Tornado in Brooklyn???? I made my way to Soho on the R train which took FOREVER. Thankfully, all the hype is true. They ROCK and they rock HARD. Delicious tacos, an efficient system to handle the madness and the wait and a top notch Michelada. Now all I need is a Tee-Shirt!

Good work NYC. You are making some excellent inroads on the path to Taco Wisdom.

Diablo Taco, Silverlake

 

While I was in Mexico, I got several emails about this new taco spot. Quickly checked out the menu and decided to go when I got back.

Diablo is a gourmet taco fusion place with heart. They are friendly not fussy. They are respectful of the almighty taco, but not afraid to be cheeky with items such as Beef Cheek tacos and Dodger Dog tacos.

The owner/manager Summer Stearns hosted me with charm, skill and generosity. The head taco chef and co-owner Casey Wiele was wonderful as well.

Most importantly, the tacos were friggin' delicious. Of course my fav was the Bison chile with yellow cheese and banana peppers. SO TASTY. I had never had Bison before and I'm not so gamey in general but this taco is a keeper.

Other delicious and innovative tacos include the Pok Chuk (marinated pork, radishes and slaw) Maple Fried Chicken, Pork Belly with caramelized bananas and peanuts, and a fabulous veggie taco with tempura-battered Woodhouse Mushrooms, roasted tomatoes and a garlic aioli made from soy.

Delicious Popsicles for Dessert!

 

I especially loved their taco shells which were very yellow, thin, grilled and never broke once. I tasted about 10 different varieties. The chef has them made at a local factory but he supplies all the ingredients. You can see him talking about it in the above video.

They also do something fun called Skins. Right now you have a choice between Kurabuta chicharron, fried chicken skins and potato skins. They come with a choice of excellent sauces.

Add to this at least 3 gourmet daily salads and a fantastic beer selection plus tart Sangria and you can not go wrong.

The Amazing Michelada

 

Dessert is delicious cookies and various homemade Paletas or Popsicles. The best Popsicle of all is the tomato, chili, Worcestershire, spicy one that can be found in their amazing Michelada. A tall chilled glass, gourmet grey salt on the rim and a floating Popsicle all add up to one of the best Mexican beer cocktails I have had ANYWHERE.

Yay Diablo! Welcome to Tacolandia.

Bizarra Capital, Whittier & Ricardo Diaz

Nopales Salad

Chef Ricardo Diaz is one of my favorite taco peeps. Not only is he a great cook, chef, etc., he is humble and seems very interested in doing affordable food for the people.

All 4 of his LA Mexi Food places are affordable and fresh.

For my birthday in June, I talked some friends into driving East for a delicious night of fun. Ricardo took over an old Sizzler and has turned it into a house of food, fun and Tequila.

Fabulously fresh Ceviche

Everyone was very impressed with the food. The service was great too.

Also in June, I made of point of finally getting to Cook's Tortas. I think they only have one taco, but the tortas are so amazing it takes you about 20 min. just to figure out which one to have.

Cook's Torta's

Check out our video of the night and also do yourself a favor and visit all of his restaurants! Whatever he is up to, Ricardo is a man of the TACO. ox



TACOTECA

COLONIA TACOS

COOK'S TORTAS

BIZARRA CAPITAL

Bäco Mercat and Jose Centeno. A Baco IS a Taco.

I am a huge fan of the Lazy Ox in Dowtown, Los Angeles. When I read an article about a sandwich that the chef had invented at his new restaurant, I had to go.

Chef Joseph Centeno is a genius in my book. And yeah, he's handsome too!

The 'Baco' is a cross between a Pita and a Taco. Centeno makes his own pita-style bread, lays it flat, fills the middle with impossibly fantastic ingredients: pork belly, fava beans, oxtail, meatballs and then folds it in half like a taco.

GENIUS I tells ya.

The menu is filled with other fabulous items such as beet/burrata salad with grapefruit, grilled okra, flatbread pizza and bazole soup (served hot or cold) which is sort of like Pho. Delicious.

The bar doles out specialty cocktails made from their own fruit/vinegar/sugar concoctions such as Persimmon, Blood Orange and Chile Lime. They also have an excellent and affordable beer and wine selection.

The dessert menu includes an amazing open-face cannoli and a semifreddo tiramisu-like bowl of chocolate-dusted heaven.

My favorite drink was the Nacho Vidal (tequila, campari and chile-lime infusion.) They named it after a porn star (go on, google him) who happened to be sitting at the bar the night they invented it.

Best of all, the service is supreme. Some of the nicest young adults in town labor to make your experience memorable and likely to be repeated. We love you Travis!

On Tuesday nights they currently have a 'spaghetti and meatball' night. After eating there on a Saturday, I rushed back on Tuesday and I was not disappointed. Perfectly cooked spaghetti with oval shaped balls of meat and a tangy but not too sweet tomato sauce. Comes with a Ceasar Salad and dessert.

Fabulous! Thank you Joseph. Keep up the good work.

PS. Mercat means 'market' in Catalonia. Baco means several things (a lunar crater, the Celtic God of the Boar, 'ay man' in Spanish) but for this use, I believe it may just be made up.

Don't worry about how to spell it or pronounce it (rhymes with taco?) Just go eat one.

Baco Mercat
408 S. Main St.
Los Angeles
www.bacomercat.com